House adopts rules on state agency lobbying

The Iowa House has adopted new rules which seek to limit the ability of state agencies to send a person to the statehouse to lobby House members. Representative Renee Schulte, a Republican from Cedar Rapids, read the new requirement to her colleagues this morning.

“It prohibits lobbyists for state agencies or the judicial branch from lobbying the House without the permission of the appropriate statewide elected official,” she said. That means Governor Branstad will have to explicitly give his permission for state agencies to employ “liasons” or statehouse lobbyists.

And the new rules require the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court to give his permission to an employee from the judicial branch to lobby legislators. The House also voted this morning to bar anyone — legislators, their staff or interns — from wearing jeans on the House floor during a scheduled work day.

The House has traditionally had more relaxed rules about attire than the Iowa Senate where jeans have been forbidden for decades, and men are to wear suit coats and ties when the Senate is in session.